Masterpiece

Zane's gingerbread house that we did at school today. He was thrilled for me to be there. Didn't want much to do with building, but definitely into the decorating/sampling the candy. And we were the first ones done. Some moms were doing all the decorating....not sure if their kids even touched it, and some went WAY overboard on decorations, techniques, etc. It's grade one. Seriously, not a competition. Just fun for the kids.

And he took the pictures himself. We had to email pictures to everyone so he could brag. Fun times.

It's so fun to see him in his classroom and interacting with his teacher and friends. How is he already this old?

AND we have a great surprise! Mom and Dad are going to be here late Saturday night and get to stay for church before heading home. They're going to be at a family thing not far from us so are making a quick stop. Not only do we get to see them early, they get to hear me sing on Sunday and have offered to take stuff like presents down for us so it's less to pack around the kidlets. Yeah!!!!

Baby steps

That's what is starting to happen around our house these days. Brock is standing and balancing really well and is even taking a few shaky steps. Yesterday he walked about 4 steps from me to Cliff.

Sniff....

Tear....

But celebrating as well! They change so fast!

Spoken for....

I've been meaning to blog this for a long time but keep forgetting...
A couple of weeks ago while I was out with the girls, my friend Kathleen told me that her daughter Emily (who is a year younger than Zane) has decided that she is going to marry Zane. I guess this is something that she's been thinking about for quite awhile - she wanted to get the decision out of the way so she could move onto other things. And Zane is her choice. Kathleen told her that she liked her choice but wondered what made up her mind. Emily told her that she was sitting in church and looked over at Zane, and decided. Oh, and he sings good too mom.
Now won't it be funny if they actually do get married?

10 months!

After the tree!
One of his classic faces...and check out the teething cheeks!

found a wheel to spin

ready for church

playing some Christmas tunes...

How is he already 10 months old?

I started this post last week....and finally have it finished!

At 10 months he is 23 lbs of BUSY!!!!

-almost walking by himself

- crawling and army crawling

- reaching for everything!

- LOVES to blow raspberries....especially while eating yogurt, mashed potatoes etc, or during sacrament meeting!

- LOVES the Christmas tree and will not leave it alone. I've now moved all the decorations from the bottom of my tree and am seriously considering moving the lights and garland. Arg.

- pushes his little walker truck thing all over the place. Carpet is best but he's pretty good on the wood too.

- loves to make a mess of the DVDs.

- thinks being on Rhett's bed (bottom bunk) is the BEST ever

- has 7 teeth

- still seems to have a laugh quota

- thinks it's very unfair that I won't let him play the piano during piano lessons

- loves to spin wheels

- starting to make strange sometimes

- is very determined but can be distracted

- is determined to see inside Vato's kennel but his mother is more determined that he stays out!

- sticks his tongue out a lot

- still cuddles with mom to go to sleep...and I love it most nights

- still wakes up once or twice a night

- has had all his classic teething signs for the past 2-3 weeks but hasn't popped the last one through yet

- wears mostly 12-18 month clothes

- got his first bloody nose on Sunday and has split his lip 3 times in the last month

- is starting to stand by himself

- is so fun

Thank goodness for Kindness!

So we had a great day yesterday (even with the FRIGID temps) and headed into Red Deer for a little shopping and FHE. We were shopping for a new winter coat for Zane. The one he had he couldn't zip on his own and has a big hole in the liner. I probably could fix the whole and get my mom to help me with the zipper...but right now my time is better spent on other things and if the coat already has those problems I'm not convinced that it won't continue to develop others. Anyways, I digress. We managed to find Zane a coat that he LOVES, and it was 40% off so that made me love it. We grabbed some supper, met up with Cliff, and headed to the north end of town to the Pines Lodge for a FHE with a bunch of families from our ward. We put on a Christmas program for the old people. Lots of carols, a few solo numbers, and of course the nativity song, complete with kids dressed in costume. Rhett was supposed to be a shepherd, but didn't make it through the first song so Zane happily took over. Cliff had to leave early for his volley ball game so Brock hung out with the bishop so I could play. It was a great time and I hope the kids felt the joy of service.
Then came the fun part....gathering 3 kids, all their winter gear, my stuff and making the trek in the frigid cold to the van. Luckily we are blessed with a great ward family who love us and help us! I had more than enough help getting everyone in their gear and then 2 wonderful young men carried all my stuff out to the van for me.
We pulled in just before 8:30 and I had the thought to go and open the door and then come get the kids out of the van. So, I told the kids to wait, ran to the door, shoved my key in....and it only went half way. OK, this isn't good, I thought. I tried again....and again. And then once more as I frantically reminded Heavenly Father that it was below minus 30 and I had 3 of his little ones with me.....and Cliff wouldn't be home for at least an hour....and I was starting to panic. Then I thought of my neighbor Percy Bryant and thought maybe he could help. I started the van again, ran over to his house, explained the situation, and he gave me lock de-icer. Tried it, didn't work. Panic setting in again. Start van again (only had one set of keys with me) and ran back to Percy again. He grabbed some super duper lubricant stuff that they use in the oil field and came to my rescue. Thankfully that worked and we were soon nice and warm in our house.
And as I thought of it later I was thankful to see the Lord's hand in it all.
I love this time of year. We are really trying to teach our kids the meaning of Christmas and to show them examples of kindness and service. Hopefully in the next 6 plus years it will be my boys helping some young mom carry stuff out to her van!

Flashback

Have you ever had one of those moments when some little insignificant thing triggers a memory from deep in the corners of your brain?
I had one tonight....
Zane was sitting at the table during supper (pizza and pop tonight) and was playing with the tab on his pop can when he snapped it off. He was really surprised and thrilled. And instantly I was transported back to Jr. high when my friends and I would see if we could snap the tabs off with certain parts intact. And then we would save them.
Why you ask?
Because somehow, somewhere, someone decreed that if you could get the tab off with the little button part attached as well you could save it for a future kiss.
I had a pretty good collection going at one time.....
And speaking of collecting kisses....we had a good system that involved purdues as well. Oh Jr. High. I DO NOT miss you.
But it is fun to remember and giggle a little.

Season of Giving

So here we are in the middle of the Christmas season....and I'm really loving it. Minus the blizzard that blew in today. As we've pondered on this year's Christmas we have really wanted to focus on teaching our kids about giving, and not just getting. I think this has really been brought into focus with Zane being in school and having "friend" influence. It seems like every other day he comes home with a new idea to add to his Santa gift.
So we've been talking about it as a family and tomorrow after my morning choir/song practice, the kids and I are heading to the dollar store with one of the young women in our ward. (Cliff works Saturdays and I need someone to sit with 2 while one shops). And once there, the two older ones will be able to purchase a few small things to gift to people. We're really hoping that they will get to experience the magic of giving through this and learn a little. We're also planning gifts that they can help mom bake or make for friends and family. Of course, they are still buzzing with excitement for Santa. And we're mixing things up a little there this year as well. Santa is bringing one big family gift and a few small things in the stockings. And they will each get one maybe two gifts from us. Hoping that those are going to be homemade but the days are rapidly slipping away....not sure if that is going to happen.
We already have so much. It's time to step back and teach that to our kids instead of constantly giving them more and more.

I'm an Auntie!

I have been waiting impatiently for 2 days now for Alisha and Jay to get their computer back and announce to all the world that their baby boy was born on Wednesday, Dec 2! And now that they have so can I!

Name: Paxton John Scott Christensen
Time: 12:51 am
Weight: 7lbs 11oz
Length: 21.6 inches

And cute as a button! We are so excited to be an auntie and uncle finally! Oh the spoilage to dole out! So excited to meet him at Christmas.

When I told the kids Zane was very excited to have a cousin and Rhett was crushed " I want a cousin too!" I explained that Paxton was his cousin as well and all was good again.
So, congrats to the new parents! And to you Lish, nice cape!